Get smart with your money
If you leave a job or retire, you’re often encouraged to roll over your 401(k) or other workplace retirement account into an individual retirement account. That might not be the right move.
In my latest for the Associated Press, why having more investment choices isn’t necessarily better.
Wall Street has done a remarkably thorough job of brainwashing investors into rolling their old 401(k) accounts into individual retirement accounts.
IRA rollovers are certainly a better option than cashing out, which is the stupidest thing you can do with a 401(k) account other than not fund it in the first place. But moving money from a workplace retirement plan to an IRA when you switch jobs or retire can be a really lousy idea.
In my latest for Nerdwallet, why you need to think twice before rolling over a 401(k).